The Role of Long Noncoding RNAs in Gene Expression Regulation

Accumulating evidence highlights that noncoding RNAs, especially the long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), are critical regulators of gene expression in development, differentiation, and human diseases, such as cancers and heart diseases. The regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs have been categorized into four major archetypes: signals, decoys, scaffolds, and guides. Increasing evidence points that lncRNAs are able to regulate almost every cellular process by their binding to proteins, mRNAs, miRNA, and/or DNAs. In this review, we present the recent research advances about the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNA in gene expression at various levels, including pretranscription, transcription regulation, and posttranscription regulation. We also introduce the interaction between lncRNA and DNA, RNA and protein, and the bioinformatics applications on lncRNA research.